ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Heavy rains that triggered floods and mudslides left a woman missing Wednesday in northern Turkey’s coastal Bartin province, officials said.
The floods in the Black Sea province came early Wednesday as firefighters in southwest Turkey worked to extinguish wildfires a wildfire in Mugla province, which runs along the Aegean Sea. At least eight people and countless animals have died in more than 200 wildfires in Turkey since July 28.
In Bartin, the flash floods demolished several houses and at least two bridges and caused part of a road leading to the neighboring province of Karabuk to collapse, the private Turkish news agency DHA reported.
Emergency workers rescued at least 15 people trapped in homes or vehicles, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. But they were searching for an 80-year-old woman in the village of Akorensokuler who was swept away by flood waters after her house collapsed, the Interior Ministry said.
Turkey’s Black Sea region is frequently struck by torrential rains and flash flooding.